Day 12

We left Skidaway Island this morning for the last time, crossing the river that inspired Johnny Mercer's masterpiece!

...wider than a mile."

Our first stop was Sandy Bottom Bagels on St. Simon's Island, which we learned about while watching the House and Garden channel. The bagels were very good.

St. Simon's Island, which first came to my attention when Jimmy Carter escaped here during his Presidency.  Not far from President Carter's retreat is Fort Frederica National Monument which was created in 1946. After founding Georgia in 1733, James Oglethorpe established a fort on the Frederica River to protect from the Savanah from the Spanish invaders to the south.  Oglethorpe, with a combined force of Scottish Highlanders, Indians and the militia, repelled the only Spanish attempt to conquer the area in 1742. Spain never attempted to rule Georgia again. 

In addition to the fort, a village was built containing 84 lots, each lot 60'x 90'.  The British abandoned the fort not long after the Spanish threat was gone, and the village as thriving as it once was also was abandoned.  Today nothing more than foundations remain, and those foundations were not even discovered until the 1950's.

This is an active dig involving the local elementary school.  

These trees are 300+ years old.  Joni...much younger!

After a multi napkin lunch of delicious spicy shrimp and fried chicken at "The Porch", we checked out the lighthouse on St. Simon's.

Continuing south, our next stop after St. Simons, was Jekyll Island, named after a friend of Oglehorpe.  Originally developed as a vacation spot for the rich and famous, the island includes 240 riverfront acres of restored Guilded Age buildings.  Eventually Georgia opened up the island for low income and middle income tourists.  The island is now completely controlled by the state, individual homes are privately owned, but they lease the land.  I wouldn't recommend visiting this island, although we did love seeing Driftwood Beach along the Atlantic. 

Day 11

Our last day in Savanah, so we started early with baguettes and coffee at the French bakery, "Cafe M"

Leaving the cafe, we drove to the Owens-Thomas House which was built between 1816-1819.  The house includes many architectural firsts for our country, including indoor plumbing.  More information about the house and the architect are displayed in the plaque below.  

The Marquis de LaFayatte, whose assistance in our Revoutionary War was by all accounts very significant stayed here in 1825.  He never approved of slavery, but after witnessing it first hand while staying in Savanah, he said he would never have helped the Americans against the British.

 

View of the back side of the main house.

The floor in the main entrance is actually painted oilskin on top of wooden planks.

The gardens, carriage house and slave quarters.

Slave quarters which accommodated as many as 12 family members at some points.

Our next site was the Tellfair Academy of Arts & Sciences.  Opened in 1885, this building was also designed by the architect William Jay.  It was the first public art museum built in the Southeast.

This statue, "The Bird Girl", was originally located in the Bonaventure Cemetery, and is best know since its photo was on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  It was moved to the Telfair Academy museum because too many visitors were creating a disturbance in the cemetery.

A thought provoking painting in two parts depicting changes in the lives of the young girls on the left.

The First African Baptist Church and the oldest only Black congregation in the U.S., it was built solely by it members.  Later used for many civil rights meetings, it was also used in the Underground Railroad to hide runaway slaves.  Holes were drilled in the floorboards of the main floor of the church in order to provide fresh air for those hidden below.

"The Pink House" gets its color as the red brick bled through the stucco.  The oldest mansion in Savanah, originally a private home, it's now a pub.  

The Jepson Center for the Arts; out lunch spot for the day.  

Chicken salad for Joni

Bacon, pesto, and mozzarella panini for me.

We ended our stay in Savanah regrouping with Joy and Paul with whom we went out to dinner at the Crystal Beer Parlor.  Our dinners typical bar food, but very well done and included:  hamburgers, shrimp, and shrimp and grits.

Day 10

Our first full day in Georgia started with our old friends Joy and Paul who we joined for breakfast at B Mathews Eatery in historic Savanah. Joy and Paul, live in Boone, NC, but they are renovating a vacation home in Savanah.  

After cleaning our plates we headed for the Mercer-Williams home where we were treated to a guided tour.  This home was made famous by the novel and movie Evil in the Garden of Good and Evil.  The house was built by General Hugh W. Mercer, great-grandfather of celebrated songwriter Johnny Mercer.  General Mercer never lived in the home and after changing hands several times it, it was purchased in 1969 by James Williams, one of Savannah’s earliest and most dedicated private preservationists, who bought the vacant property and began a two-year restoration of the house that would become his permanent residence. Mr. Williams restored more than 50 buildings during his 30-year career in historic preservation in Savannah and the Low-country. 

Leaving the Mercer-Williams house we moved on to check out Paul and Joy project they started earlier this year. Paul still has a lot of work to do, but based on his previous renovations that we've seen, we know he'll do a great job.

Leaving them, we drove to the Bonaventure Cemetery where Johnny Mercer is buried. It took us a while to find his grave, but when we did, we were treated to a conversation a man whose deceased wife was Mercer's nice and god daughter, who was watering the flowers at the site.

Mercer's childhood home.

Johnny Mercer

After stopping for a light lunch of ice cream sundaes, we returned to our campsite and napped for several hours before going out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, the nearby Driftaway Cafe. Joni had scallops and I had tuna.  Both were exceptionally tasty.

Diver Scallops:  Three Jumbo Diver Scallops (harvested by divers not by dredge) Pan Seared and served on a bed of Capellini Pasta with Spinach and Sweet Potato 

Tybee Tuna : Sesame Encrusted Center Cut Tuna Seared Rare on Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
with Mixed Greens, Sushi Ginger, and Finished with Cucumber Wasabi Cream and Sesame Ginger Sauce

Day 8 & 9

Friday  started off with Mila's incredible eggs benedict!  They were absolutely marvelous.

We spent the rest of the morning running errands and visiting Ocean Isle Beach, which is the barrier island just north of Sunset Beach.  

Returning to Bill & Mila's, we had a late lunch of curried chicken and rice.  I forgot to take a photo, but  it was certainly blog worthy.  Mila's curry is as good as any restaurant I've visited.

We all had two helpings,  so we needed to walk off our meal by visiting a park  along the Intracostal Waterway in nearby South Carolina where we were treated to a continuous parade of boats.

On the way home we stopped at local art collector's studio/home where we enjoyed a variety of original works from all over the world.

Sadly our wonderful visit with the Millmans had to come to an end.  We wanted to hit the road early on Sunday, so after watching an excellent Israeli film, Sand Storm, we headed to bed around 10 pm.

We got off to an early start on Sunday and after posing for some goodbye pix, we were heading south through beautiful Myrtle Beach and all its kitsch to Charleston for lunch, and then onto Skidaway State Park, just south of Savanah.

Yes, that's King Kong!

Charleston, maybe the most beautiful city in America

Buffalo fried golden shrimp, smoked gouda fondue, jalapeño-chedar golden grits, southern stewed French pole beans=THE BEST SHRIMP & GRITS I'VE EVER TASTED!

Our campsite for the next three nights.  We must be in Georgia because the trees are covered in Spanish moss.

Day 6-7

I think we're finally escaping winter; it was 42° this morning, and sunny too.

We were on the road by 9 AM, heading to Sunset Beach, NC, where our friends Bill and Mila live, but stopping for lunch in Greenville, NC, where we were meeting our good friends Paul and Pam who live in nearby Grimesland, NC.  

For lunch we had our first barbecue of the trip, and it couldn't have been more authentic.  In North Carolina barbecue means pork and that's all that as offered on the menu.  The only decision was what size plate did you want?   Served with a side of boiled potatoes and cornbread sticks, it made a delicious lunch and our bill for the two of us, which included a soft drink, was only $16.  

Our visit with Paul and Pam was too brief, but we will be seeing them in June at our college reunion, and in July when they join us in the Pyrenees for the Tour de France.

We arrived at Bill & Mila's home in Sunset Beach, NC around 5 PM.  Their home is located right on a fresh water lake, adjacent to a golf course, and in the center of the bird Atlantic Migratory Flyway.  Accordingly their back yard is continually filled with a variety of birds including owls.  They live in a golfers and bird watchers paradise.  We spent the first few hours just sitting on their deck, catching up, and sipping wine.  Mila prepared a delicious filet mignon dinner with asparagus.  Life is good.

Bill and Mila's home.

Mila and Joni 

View from Bill & Mila's back deck

On Friday we awoke to a beautiful morning with clear skies and temps in the 70°s.  After a leisurely breakfast and took a three mile walk along sunset beach.  The beach is very flat, and the sand is very firm, so walking is very easy. Non-fat tire bikes are common here, and the waves look very good for surfing.

Bill and Joni on Sunset Beach

Mila campaigning for mayor of Sunset Beach

Actually Mila is a member of a neighborhood conservation group that is raising funds to protect the lake that is addict to their home.  So she spent the morning at an Earth Day fair sharing info about their organization.

For dinner we drove to the neighboring town of Calabashand dined at the Oyster Rock, a riverfront seafood restaurant with shrimp boats docked in front of us.   The place was packed, but fortunately we had a reservation so we were immediately seated at our table.  Our dinners of grouper, oysters, flounder, and tuna perfectly complimented the beautiful setting.

Tuna with a crab and shrimp cream sauce.